The present invention relates to object identification systems, and more specifically to an item recognition system and method.
Readable bar code labels are difficult to impossible to attach to fasteners and other small unpacked items. For example, in a typical building supply store, a store clerk must identify small items by visually matching a customer-provided item to one of a plurality of sample items fastened to a sheet of cardboard, or by manually identifying the item in a blue-print book. The clerk reads an item number, such as a stock keeping unit (SKU) number, for the identified item from the cardboard sheet or blue-print book, and enters the item number into the transaction using a keyboard of a retail terminal. Alternatively, the clerk may scan the bar code next to a picture of the item in a book. These methods are time consuming and subject to error.
Most retailers realize that unpacked items increase check-out time. They tend to package most of the small items in boxes, forcing the customers to purchase the items in a quantity that sometimes is unnecessary and even wasteful.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that more quickly identifies an item and incorporate its item number into a transaction without the disadvantages above.